Automobile door handle construction



DCC' 25, 1934 R. F. ANDERSON 1,985,223

AUTOMOBILE DOOR HANDLE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 22, 1933 manna; jfrQg//zdefsm WP/@Mtg Patented Dec. 245, 1934 AUTOMOBILE Doon :HANDnE ooNsT-Ruorrlou v ning & o., Illinois Ihis inventionrelates to improvements intanto.-

mobile :door handle .construction :and` it Iconsists of .the matters hereinafter described .and more particularly .pointed out inthe appended fclaims.

In automobile doors `as now `made, diiculty arises iin .providing iasubstantial fjournal .'mount ing ior the ,handlespindle in the-wall 01 ttheidoor body .below the .usual window opening .and .this difliculty is increased when said AWall constitutes but.a thin .metallicsheet In such aconstruction, it isdesired ;to=avoid, as vmuch vas possible, Athe .use of .screwse nd bolts whichare .not yonly Aobjectionable because of added 4cost abut also zbecause `of theappearance presented. e

When .the :door fbody wall .constitutes :a -metallic sheet, it -is :apparent vfthat said sheetl presents `a considerable area. Therefore, when a pull fis-exerted upon a :handle to :open the ldoor, fthe 4pull is localized upon :a'substantially small area which Y cannot offer 'much vresistance lto lbulging lthe sheet atthis point.

:Onefoi :the i obj ectsof' the :invention is lto provide an improved yjournal lmounting -for the door handle spindle lin :the .door sheet, whichiispf lsimpler construction, whereby Sit .may bemade and assembled at smallcost, .and 4which vprovides a rigid construction .that v ol'ers more resistance to handle vpull .against fbulging .the .door lsheet lat -this point.

.A further r objectof the invention is te iprovide aeconstruction of this kind, which requires the use .of ibut a single screw in its `assembly from ythe outside of the door 'body and furthermore "is not only more difficult lto lremove by `unauthorized personsfbutipresents a more sightly appearance.'y

Again, it is an object of the invention -to-provide a constructionwhich can be assembled in a space of a size that would be insufficient to accommodate the conventional two screw design.

The above mentioned objects of the invention, as Well as others, together with the many advantages thereof, will more fully appear as I proceed With my specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of my improved automobile door handle construction and the more directly associated parts of the door, as viewed from the inside of the door body wall or sheet;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal detail sectional View as taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectorial View through the improved construction as taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is another detail vertical sectional view thnough1a-rpart .of the iimprovedconstruction as taken on the line 4 4 of .13.

.Referring 'now in :detailjto thatembodi-ment of the fin-vention., illustrated in the drawing:

;1 indicates ias a whole-admi' body Wallin the 5 form of a metallic :Sheet =.or panel :inrWhich is located a bushinglreoeivng opening :2 defined in partfby an inwardly iextending arcuate flange 3.

Split weldedron theinside of `the door body wall 4oiwshcet in the Micinity of said opening, isa reF 10 iniorcing :plate .5.. .This plate is Aprovidecl with a bushingireceivinsppening i6 zthrough l.which the enge aeatends. .reinforcing plate is provided with ralrecess i8 disposed yto one side ,of the vertical :plane 7.of :the axis of "the )opening '.6 and which recess communicates with said opening, :there :being fa asimilar recess associated :with the opening :2 im 'the door :body mailer sheet. Wi-hen'vithe .reinorcing ip'late is .positioned on the inside of fthe-,wallfor sheet 1, then :the openings "o and recessesiinrsaidwall .or sheet and vreinforcing plate respectively, register witheachfother; :On the :rear side fof the reinforcing :plate :injline `with anfopeningz, andbelowfthe `opening 6,.;is -xed -a transweltsely ,extending screw receiving plate or nutAdO. Preferably .the screw receiving plate .is Spotfweldedttozthe reinforcing plate. .'11 :indicatesoasra whole, Va u'our-nal bushing that includes a tubular body 12 adapted to extend throughthe openingsz2 and 6in @the dooribody wall or sheet rand reinforcing iplate respectively. E'On the outer and :of :said @bushing is @provided ...an escutchepn .or finishing :flange :1-3 .of such .a ,diameter .and shape as to cover :the opening 2` in thewall Aolv-sheet 11. #The bottom-end .of .said 35 ange has a greater radialfdimension .than the topiend mart sand in said'zbottom lend :portion is an opening to register With the opening 9 in the reinforcing plate 5 and with an associated hole 15 in the Wall or sheet 1.

On the top side of the inner end of the bushing body and spaced axially from the liange 13 a distance substantially equal to the combined thickness of`both the door body Wall or sheet and reinforcing plate respectively, is an integral lug 16. When inserting the bushing iny place in the door'from the outside thereof, .the body is turned so that the lug registers with the recesses cess so that the flange and lug provide spaced portions to receive the wall or sheet between them. Thereafter a screw 1'7 is inserted through said holes and into the screw receiving plate' 10 and this secures the parts rigidly in place.

18 indicates as a whole the spindle of a door handle. -This spindle has an intermediate part 19 of a diameter fitting the interior of the" bushing, an inner latch operating end 20 and an outer handle end 21 of a diameter larger than the part 19. This provides an annular shoulder 22 for snug engagement with the bushing about lthe bore or opening therein. It is to be noted that the handle 21 is disposed upon thatv side of the vertical plane of the axis of the spindle, opposite the recess 8 before mentioned.

The intermediate part of the spindle is of an axial length greater than that of the bushing and mounted on the inner end thereof is a ferrule 23. This ferrule abuts the inner end of the bushing and prevents the withdrawal of the spindle from the bushing.

A part a at the top of the reinforcing plate is split and sprung outwardly to be engaged by the lug 16 when the bushing has been turned into its final portion as best shown in Fig. 1 and this assists in holding the parts in place.

When the handle is turned to actuate the latch mechanism 24 as shown in Iiig. 2 `and a pull is exerted on said handle to open the door, the force of the pull is transmitted to the door through the plate 5v which reinforces the door body wall or sheet in that karea about the handle which would tend to bulge. The same reinforcing action is present when a push is imposed upon the handle as when closing the door.

Again, the parts are secured in place by a single screw at the bottom of the bushing ange and being located beneath the spindle, it is substantially concealed. The parts are few in num- Y ber and may be made and assembled at an extremely low cost.

By making the bottom part of the flange 13 of a greater radial dimension than the top part, it is possble to apply the bushing to the door nearer the rbody belt beading la as shown in Fig. 4, than would be possible in aconstruction requiring more than one screw for attachment tothe door.

While in describing the invention, I have referred in detail tc the form and arrangement of the various parts, the same is to be considered only in an illustrative sense and therefore, I do not wish to be limited thereto, except as may be specifically set forth in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a relatively thin sheet metal door body wall, a reinforcing plate secured to the inner fac'e of said wall, said wall and plate having registering openings and lateral recesses therein, a rearward projection on said plate adjacent the opening therein, a spindle receiving bushing having a flange at one end engaged-against the outer face of sa`d wall and also having a projection on the other end for insertion through the registering recesses and operating when the bushing is turned to move out of register with said recesses into a position having an end face engagement with said :First mentioned projection, and means passing through said flange, said wall and said reinforcing plate for securing the bushing in the last mentioned position.

2. In combination with a relatively thin sheet metal door body wall having an opening and a lateral recess therein, the opening being partially defined by an inwardly extending flange, a reinforcing plate secured to the inner face of the wall .and having an Aopening and a lateral re cess therein registering with those in said wall, a rearward projection on said plate adjacent said opening, a spindle receiving bushing having a flange at'one end for engagement against the outer face of said wall and also having a projection on the other end for insertion through the registering recesses and operating when the bushing is turned to move out of register with said recesses into a position having an end face engagement with said iirst mentioned projection and having a side face engagement with a part of said ange, and means passing through said flange, said wall and said reinforcing plate for securing the bushing in the last mentioned position.

3. `In combination with a relatively thin sheet metal door body wall, a relatively heavy reinforcing, plate welded to the inner face of said wall, said wall and platev having registering openings and lateral recesses therein and said plate having a rearwardly punched-out part near said opening, a spindle receiving bushing having a flange at one end engaged against the outerface of said wall and also having a projection on the other end for insertion through the registering recesses and operating when the bushing is turned to move out of register with said recesses into a position having an end face engagement with said rearwardly punched out part on said plate,

a nut secured to the inner face of the reinforcing plate, and a screw passing through said flange, said wall, said reinforcing plate and into vsaid nut for securing the bushing in the last mentioned position.

ROY F. ANDERSON. 

